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Body Lab 3-5 / Week 06 / Body Lab Day
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Week 06 · Digestion

Body Lab Day

Body Lab Day: Digestion Path
// Food's long trip, powered by the Sun
⏱ about 15 min

Body Lab Day: Digestion Path

Rocket tapes paper signs across the floor: mouth, esophagus, stomach and more. "Let's walk the food's trip!" he says.

Raven checks the order. "What do you notice? Is anything out of place?"

Nova hovers over the signs. "Read them in order out loud," she says. "Your ears might catch a mistake."

Rocket swaps two signs and grins. "Oops! Fixed it."

  1. Digestion starts in the mouth with teeth, tongue and saliva.
  2. The esophagus squeezes food to the stomach in waves.
  3. The stomach stores food and mashes it into a liquid mix.
  4. The small intestine passes nutrients into the blood.
  5. The large intestine takes water back into the body.
  6. The energy in food was once energy from the Sun.
◇ THE DIGESTION PATH GAME
Write six signs: Sun, Mouth, Esophagus, Stomach, Small intestine, Large intestine.
Mix up the signs. Work together to lay them on the floor in the right order.
Take turns being a bite of food. Step from sign to sign.
At each sign, say what happens there before you step on.
For the esophagus, take tiny squeeze steps. For the stomach, wiggle and mix!
Make a long, twisty path for the small intestine with yarn or tape.
Switch the order on purpose. Can the other players spot the mistake?
Safety first
Lay the signs on a clear floor away from stairs.
Tape the signs down so nobody slips on paper.
Walk, do not run, between signs.
PUT THE SIGNS IN ORDER
  • ?Small intestine
  • ?Stomach
  • ?Esophagus
  • ?Mouth
  • ?Large intestine
WHY THIS EXERCISEFood goes mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, then large intestine.
BODY LAB CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
At which sign do nutrients pass into the blood?
Why does the game start with a Sun sign?
For a grown-up
Ask: which part of the trip was the longest? Which was the quickest?
Ask: how do the heart and lungs help digestion do its job?

Fantastic food tracking! Next week we meet the boss of all these systems: the brain and nerves.

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